News
        
        Microsoft To End Windows 9x Support in July 
        
        
        
        This time, there will be no more temporary reprieves. Microsoft has begun warning 
  users of Windows 98, 98 Second Edition and Windows Millennium Edition that the 
  end is near -- for all technical support, at least.
Although the company has been urging corporate customers for some time to replace 
  those aging systems, it has stepped up its efforts recently and is now telling 
  them they should migrate to Windows XP as soon as possible, according to BetaNews, 
  an online news site for beta testers.
Microsoft currently plans to cut off all paid support, including security patches, 
  for all three systems on July 11, 2006. The cutoff was already 
  extended once from January 2004 in order to give customers more time to 
  migrate off those systems.
"Microsoft is ending support for these products because they are outdated 
  and…can expose customers to security risks. We recommend that customers 
  who are still running Windows 98 or Windows ME upgrade to a newer, more secure 
  Microsoft operating system, such as Windows XP, as soon as possible," says 
  a statement on Microsoft's site.
The company had obviously hoped that those customers rotating out older systems 
  running Win98/SE/ME would be able to replace them by simply purchasing new PCs 
  preloaded with Windows Vista. However, with Vista's delivery on new PCs 
  delayed until the first quarter of next year, corporate customers will have 
  to settle for XP-based PCs and upgrade them to Vista when it becomes available 
  to them in November.
Online self-help support will be available at the Microsoft Support Web site 
  until at least July 11, 2007, the company's statement said.
 
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
            
        
        
                
                    About the Author
                    
                
                    
                    Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.